Sunday 5 August 2012

Don't Get Excited

We came home from our holiday yesterday after having a wonderful fortnight in Cornwall. We were very lucky with the weather, it was beautiful for the duration of the first week, and although we had some rain in the second week, it didn't stop us from doing anything we wanted to do. I was straight out to the greenhouse when I got home, expecting the good weather to have brought on my tomatoes. The plants have certainly grown, and I excitedly looked for signs of tomato growth but all that's there so far is the grand total of one tomato, and as you can see, it's still a tiny thing. All hope of a decent tomato harvest is now ebbing away.

I haven't visited the allotment yet so I don't know how things have fared there. The broad beans which I harvested before my holiday were eaten with bacon and home grown potatoes, and I shall definitely grow them again next year. I'm hoping there are more to pick when I venture down there.

The tops on some of my container grown potatoes have died right back, so a couple of containers were emptied out. I got a good haul, one load for us and another load for my parents. I enjoy sharing the fruits of my labour.

14 comments:

  1. I really don't know what has happened with the tomatoes this year. I can understand the ones I have planted outside but I don't really get why they are being so lazy in the greenhouse.

    Glad you enjoyed your hols. We go away next week so I am hoping for some dry weather then.

    I still have lots of broad beans to pick and blanch before I go away.

    Hope you get some nice surprises when you visit the allotment.

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  2. Not a red tomato in sight for us either. Glad you had a good holiday

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  3. Oh no poor you, everything is so late this year. We have Gardeners delight & San mazarno tomatoes in the greenhouse. The Gd tomatoes have started to turn red in the last 10 days though very slowly.

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  4. Sadly my tomatoes have done no better than yours.
    Like you I had plenty of broad beans.
    Good to see that you did okay with the potatoes. Flighty xx

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  5. My poor tomatoes have had blight so no joy for us at all this year. Even my poor potatoes have suffered a little. We did did quite a few up this morning and had just over half a sac full from a third of the earlys we planted. We do have masses of mange tout and runner beans, even a few cucumbers and courgettes plus fruit of cause.

    X x

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  6. My tomatoes look like that, except that I have 2! What a dreadful year for growing them. Still, some hope for a some nice summer days to bring them on yet - am I being unreasonably optimistic? lol. X

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  7. My tomato plants are evidently doing better than yours - and managing to survive despite the blight. I am harvesting quite a lot of the cherry-sized ones, and even some of the bigger ones are turning colour now. The Incas plant that I grew from the seed you sent me is OK-ish (it has about 15 fruit), but it is not particularly strong in comparison to some of the others - e.g. San Marzano.

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  8. I'm sure that there will be others following in its wake Jo. Glad to hear that you enjoyed your holiday and that the broad beans went down well :)

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  9. My outdoor tomatoes are the exact same which are in contrast to the ones in the conservatory that have been pumping out fruits for the last month.

    I'm going to put my foot down after this year and stop trying to grow tomatoes outside! (I say that every year ;)

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  10. Glad you enjoyed your hols Jo and that you didn't suffer too much with bad weather. A definitely bad year for outdoor tomatoes mine are rubbish - except for the tumbling tom in the hanging basket. In the greenhouse some are just starting to ripen - very very slowly - may get some to eat by Christmas at this rate.

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  11. Glad you had a good vacation, Jo. Tomatoes are grown outside only here, so they are totally dependent upon the weather. My tomatoes are not turning red this year. The weather is crazy. P. x

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  12. I think the low light levels may have something to do with the way tomatoes are performing this year, Tanya. We certainly haven't had much sunshine. I'll keep my fingers crossed that we get some next week though whilst you're on holiday.

    I'd settle for some green ones at this point, Sue. Still only the one here.

    I like both the varieties you're growing, Awholeplotoflove. It sounds as though yours are doing better than mine.

    Sorry to hear about your tomatoes, Flighty. I think we'll both have to try again next year.

    There's no sign of blight here, yet, Please May I, though the conditions are just right for it. Sorry to hear it's caught your tomatoes. It sounds as though other things are doing well for you though, my mange tout were completely destroyed by slugs.

    I think all gardeners are optomistic, Frugal Living UK. It sounds as though your tomatoes are as bad as mine, so we'll both be optomistic together.

    I think all your plants are doing better than mine this year, Mark. I'm glad some of us are managing to get a harvest though. There's no fruit on my Incas plants yet but I live in hope.

    I hope so, Anna. I've harvested more broad beans, at least there's something to pick.

    I'm going to have another go at growing outdoors next year, Tanya. Surely we can't have another bad year. Glad you're managing to harvest some tomatoes from the indoor plants though.

    I think many things are going to be late this year, Elaine. What is it they say? Better late than never, how true is that.

    It doesn't matter where you live, we're all having our fair share of bad weather this year, Pam. There's time yet for your tomatoes to turn red, fingers crossed.

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  13. Glad to hear you had a good holiday and pretty good weather. Maybe it has been the light levels that have affected the tomatoes. We haven't had that much sun and it has been so cool. Maybe they'll still produce a crop just that little bit later.

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  14. I think it probably is the light levels affecting the tomatoes, Wellywoman. If only we'd had the sunshine we're enjoying at the moment a little earlier in the year.

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